Feeler-motion for looms



E. s. STIMPSUN.

FEELEH MOTION FOR LOOMS.

KPPLICAHON men rwsilsn.

1,327,069,- Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Inventor E. S. STIMPSON. FEELER MOHGN'VFGR LUOMS. APPLICATION mm FB.B. lsn.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 il 'y? Inventor tion like characters 7 tion of the loom.

" wa t whereby, when the Specification of Letters Patent.

f i STATES PATENT OFFICE.

7 I EOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGHOR TO DRAPER 'O TEDALE; MASSACHUSETTS, A, CORPORATION OF MAINE.

i inntnnruo'non non Looms Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

Application filed February 8, 1917. Serial No. 147,468.

To all whom-it may concern:

' 'n that E S S' J Q residing at ,and State unimproves, of which ment inFeeler- W the followingdescn 7 the accompanying rawmgs, 18 a specificaon the drawings representing like parts.

The invention to hereinafter described relates to feeler looms, and more particularly to the feeler mechanisms of such looms, fil the active 7 t quite ex- "is caused to n the condishuttle becomes hausted,faitraini o he acts: ted'to enact a,

The change 'efi'ectedn'n the condition of the loom may cause filling replenishment either by furnishing a fresh supply of filling to the active shuttle or by subst tut ng a shuttle having-a workin su ply therein for the one in which the fiihng is nearly or substantially exhausted and while the present invention as beiadvantageously, employed with either 9 these systetns'for replenishing the filling,{it will be hereinafter described as emplo ediinr a loom where the filling is changed in the shuttle. i

Feeler mechanisms must he sensitive and responsive to the condition of the filling in the shuttle, otherwise there is liable to be a change of filling at times when a suflicient working supply stillreniains in the shuttle, in whichcasethei'eflwf "ul" undesirable or: a change 7 calied' until the filling is sta ad, in which event an objectionable defect is liable to result in the cloth being woven. Either of these conditions is objectionable. An important feature of the present invention,=

nection withshuttle on a; detecting-beat by on agement with the filling so long as a su cient or working supply is present, but is given such movement w en the filling is substantially exhausted to effect replenishment prior to complete exhaustion. n this type of feeler, movement of the feeler member longitudinally of the shuttle when a working or sufficient supply is present on a detecting beat, is prevented-by the roughened end of the fee or engagingv and, to an extent, sinkin into the 11mg. The feeler is usually held in rearward position or ressed toward the lay by a spring, the e ective pressure of which increases as the lay moves to front position on a'detecting beat, so that if the feeler is freed to side swipe movement as soon as or shortly after it contacts with the infiiend of the feeler will not be ressed with so cient energy a ainst the lling to be always held from side swipe movement at such time, and a change of filling is liable to result even when a sufficient or working supply is present in the shuttle. Other causes, not necessary to enumerate here, may also bring about-premature movement of the feeler longitudinally of the shuttle where the feeler is free for such movement shortly gfter it engages the filling on at detecting eat.

The above and other important features of the invention will be. hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings which show -one good practical form or embodiment thereof, and the several features of the invention will then be definitely pointed out by the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of sufficient portions of a loom containing the resent invention to make clear the construction and operation thereof;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view, arts .being omitted, showing t ie feeler mec anism and relation of parts when the lay is approximately at front position and the shuttle con tains a working supply of filling;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail in side eleva tion showing portions of the actuator and operating member;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line H, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a erspective view similar to that of Fig. 2, s owing the relation of parts when the lay has moved backward from the position indicated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the relation of parts when the lay is approximately in front position and the filling is substantially exhausted;

Fig. 7 is a detached view showing details of the feeler member and its support; and

Fig. 8 is an underside view of the parts shown by Fig. 7.

The loom frame 1 may be of usual character appropriate to support the operating parts, and is shown as provided with the shipper stand 2 havin the usual slot .3 in which the shipper 4 is movable.

Mounted in suitable bearings 5 appropriately secured to the loom frame or breast beam at 6, is the change or rock shaft 7, Fig. 1, which may 'be connected as usual to suitable means for initiating filling replenishment when the shaft is rocked.

Adjustably secured to the shaft 7 and rising therefrom is an arm 8 having pivoted thereto at 9 an arm 10, which for identification, will he hereinafter referred to as the actuator, because 'by frontward movement thereof it actuates or rocks shaft 7 in opposition to its usual spring holding means to initiate filling replenishment.

Secured to the shipper stand or other appropriate supporting means is the feeler stand 11, having a slot 12 through which passes the bolt 13 by which the feeler stand ma' be adjustably secured in place. The feeler which enters the shuttle on each detecting beat and detects the condition of the filling, is vieldingly mounted on the feeler stand for rontward movement. In the present instance the feeler comprises the rod 14, the front portion of which passes loosely through a bearing 15 sustained by the feeler stand 11, the construction being such that the feeler may be moved frontward and have capacity for swinging movement to a limited extent in a direction shuttle. as will more fully appear.

The feeler 14 has secured thereto a block 16 having side or wing portions 17 which ride upon the feeler stand 11 as it is moved relative to the stand, and a spring normally acts upon the feeler to maintain it in rearward position. In the present instance, the spring is of the coil type 18 which surrounds the feeler, one end of the spring resting against the bearing 15 and its opposite end against the block 16. The filling-engaging end of the feeler 14 is roughened or provided with teeth 19, the construction bein such that the roughened or toothed end 19 by engagement with the relative soft filling will prevent movement of the feeler longilongitudinally of the' tudinally of the shuttle in response to its actuating means to be described rovided a sufiiclent or working supply of 'lling is present as the lay me es its detecting beat.

21, Fig. 8, formed in portion of the slot 21, prevents lateral or,

side movement of the feeler.

As hereinbefore noted, the feeler is of the side swipe type, that is, it has a movement longitudinally of the shuttle, when, on a detecting beat, there is not sufficient filling in the shuttle to restrain such movement by engagement with the roughened or toothed end '19 of the feeler member. In the illustrated form of the invention, the feeler member 14 passes through a block 24 supported by the feeler stand 11 and guided for sliding movement in a lateral direction or substantially lengthwise of the shuttle b lugs 25 projecting from the feeler stand: Fig. 7. Various modifications of this feature of the invention will suggest themselves, but that described has been found efficient and practical.

The front wall 26 rovided with of the shuttle-box is an openin 27, as is also the rent wall 28 of the shutt e 29, and through these openings the end of the feeler mem ber 14 passes on each detecting beat to contact with the filling in the shuttle.

Pivotally mounted 'at 30 on a suitable stand 31 is a bell crank lever 32, the end 33 of which projects below the actuator 10, and on which the actuator may conveniently rest. The bell crank lever -32is connected to the feeler member so that lateral or side swipe movement of the feeler member on a detecting heat will beoperatively positioned relative to an o ating member to initiate filling replenlshportion 20 which exis provided with an' cause the .-actuator 10 to.

Ili-

ment. In the present instance a rod 35 conmeets the bell crank 32 and slide block 24.

This rod may be pivoted to the bell crank at '34 and joined to the slide block 24, by passing the end of the rod through a In extending from the slide block, and to cop the rod and lug in operative relation yet permit them to be readily disconnected, a plate 37 may be secured to the feeler stand and project above or over the extension 36, as indicated in Fig. 1, but various details may suggest themselves as substitutes for connecting the feeler member and bell I New a as a means belprovid i n ud n lly 0 also plaein' the actuator in position to newness he made adjustable L :r 47 a on of means to this end sshown as a. J B

The present invention contemplates that d for impartingolateral or sideswipe movement'to the feeler, when, on :ardetcctnrg beat, the filling is substantially In the present instance, this ifeature of t e invention assemr y 39 mounted upon the rod 35, one a guide mo e as hears teeth si s Winch the rod 5 pa he'otherendagamst construction such that should the fillingebe substantia y exhausted on a detecting beat, the spring 39 will cause the feeler member to be moved laterall or in a direcof the s uttle, thereby 'ntward'b its-gperating memspear, to initiate feeie'r merhber have been moved lethally as and underethe conditions an as indiea described ii de irable that, it be moved lamrally :inithe op ositedirection as the lay goes back her er that the feeler memher may assume its proper feeling position,

ted in Fi The spring 18 and 23, Fi'. 8, may under the inolines 22 a e ent'to restore semecondiiions be quite su A per; ee n sition, but to shameful ii a i S6 43, which asfthe anteater 10 1s Bentward by its operatiri memher 42 afterc e callfor re lenishment y side swipe'movement of the eeler member, rides 7 over the enfl'33 ofthe bell crankfifi, turns it against the, tension f or holding it rearwarthe spring 39, and

gdraws the feelermember laterally in an oppositee direction sosthat as the lay retreats, e i5- ,estererthefeeler member member with the 'fil ng iir-the m If a or V V v i I 45 The intermittentren'igagement of the feeler shuttle is liable to injuriously afiect the yarn.' To reduce this injury to a minimum, the feeler member and the spring means for moving dlyshould be light and readily responsive to the pushof the filling during: thebeat-up. On the other hand, if tha feeleri; b free to move laterally thssshnttle at or shortly sure arts gaging end of the solar against the filling; even when a working supply is present on a detecting beat, may not be suflicicnt to hold the feeler from such '80 lateral movement; where the feeler and s light 'as not to injure t e yarmand ache-n of filling will be prematurely. In de. 7 present invention,

therefore, contemplates that the feeler memring are made so her andthe spring for holding or moving it rearwardly, s'allbe so li ht that the yarn may not be injured, and the feeler member be locked or held from lateral or side swipe movement until, on the frontward movement of the lay, the tension of the spring has been sufficiently increased to cause the onaging end of the feeler to sink far enough into the filling to be eii'ectively. held by it from, lateral orside swipe movement so long as a workingsupply of filling is present. More ,specificall stated, the feeler member is preferably he d or locked from lateral or side swipe movement at all times, except when the lay is approximately in front position and the pressure energy of the feeler member againstthe filling is about themaximum. At this moment the feeler member is freed so that it may move laterally or longitudinally of the shuttle provided the filling is substantially exhausted.

The actuator 10 has an end portion provigled, gwith' shoulders or surfaces 44 and 45,

3, one each sideof a recess 46. The opeating member 42 may be any appro riate part moving in thefiesired timed relation with the la and in the present instance, is the cam f0 lower or arm connected thereto. The operating member has a head portion 47 provided with a'shoulder or surface 48 adapted to rest upon the surface 44, Figs. 1 and 3, when the lay is in rearward osition, thereby locking the feeler member rom lateral or side 'swape movement, so long as the s Hand 48 remain in the described relation.v On each detecting beat, the lay moves frontward and causes the feeler member 14 to enter the shuttle and feel for the filling. As the lay moves farther frontward, the feeler member is nushed toward the front of the loom, compressing the spring 18, and causing the roughened end of the feeler member to press with increasing energy against the filling, while the operating meniber 42 remains-at rest. When, however, the frontward movement of the lay has increased the spring tension enough to insure that the roughened or toothed end of the feeler member is pressed sufficiently into the filling to hold the feeler member against latoral or side swipe movement provided a working supply of filling is present, the operating member 42 moves on its excursion from the shoulder or surface 44 across the recess 46 to the shoulder or surface 45, and as it passes the recess, it frees the actuator and perforce the feeler member. If there be aworking supply of filling in the shuttle, 2, the feeler will have been forced into e ective holding engagement with the filling before being freed to lateral or side swipe movement as the head of the operating member passes across the recess 4-6, and will consequently not move laterally. The head of recess and ride above movement at all times,

the operating member will then cross the the surface -15 before the lay, on its backward movement, carries the fillin away from the feeler, thereby again loc ing the feeler member, Fig. 5. I however the filling be substantially exhausted, as the head of the operating member 42 moves from the surface 44, the s ring 39 will force the feeler member laterally, or longitudinally of the shuttle and lift the actuator 10, so that the shouldered portion 48 of the operating member will engage the recess 46 and upon continued frontward movement of the operating member cause the actuator to move frontward, thereby rocking the shaft 7 and initiating filling replenishment, as indicated in Fig. 6. Thus the feeler member is locked from lateral except during the short interval when the head of the operating member is crossing the recess 46, and at such time the action of the feeler member against the filling is such that lateral movevment cannot occur unless the filling has become substantially exhausted.

The described feeler motion may be employed in connection with bobbins or filling carriers wound with a bunch. In such cases,

the feeler member may act upon the fillin or bobbin at one side of the bunch, an owing to the increased energy with which the feeler member acts before bein freed to lateral or side swipe movement, t 1e fiiling may be exhausted substantially toleave only the bunch upon the bobbin when replenishment is called. In practice, it has been found that there is substantial uniformity in the amount of yarn left on the bobbin as waste by the use of the present invention. This is particularly so where he bobbins are provided with a bunch, but 0 course, the invention may be advantageously employed in connection with bobbins wound without a bunch.

The feeler member is preferably made tubular, thereby rendering it light yet eflicient in operation, and in this case the filling-engaging end of the feeler member may be ormed by a cap secured to the feeler memher, as indicated. Any matter common to this case and the Stimpson Patent No. 1,309,226, dated July 8, 1919, is claimed in the patent, and all the claims in this application are directed to subject-matter not disclosed in the patent.

What is claimed is :--v

1. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feeler stand having a bearing at its front portion and a slide mounted for lateral movement at its rear portion, a feeler mounted for reciprocating movement in said bearing and slide, and means for moving the slide laterally and swinging the feeler in the front hearing when the filling is exhausted on a detecting beat.

2. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feeler stand having a bearing at its front portion and a slide mounted for lateral movement at its rear portion, a 'feeler mounted for reciprocating movement in said bearing and slide, a spring normally acting to maintain the feeler in rearward position, and means for moving the slide laterally and swinging the feeler in the front "bearing liyhen the filling is exhausted on a detecting eat.

3. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feeler stand, a bearing at the front portion of the feeler stand, a slide mounted for lateral movement of and at the rear of the'feeler stand, a feeler mounted for reciprocating and swinging movement in the front bearing and for reciprocating movement in the slide, and means for moving the slide laterally on a detecting beat when the filling is substantial] exhausted.

4. In a filling replenis ing loom, the combination of a eeler, means including a laterally movable spring actuated slide for supporting the feeler in feeling position, a train of mechanism for initiating replenishment of filling when the slide is moved later-all and connections between the slide and said train of mechanism.

5. In a fillin replenishing loom, the combination of a color, means including a lati erally movable slide for supporting the feeler in feeling position, means for efie'cting lateral movement of the feeler and slide when the filling is substantially exhausted, a 100 train of mechanism for initiating replenishment of filling when the slide is moved laterally, and connections between the slide and said train of mechanism.

6. In a fillin bination of a f e'ler, an actuator, movable slide through which the tends, connections between the slide and'actuator, and means for movin the slide latorally when the filiing is en hausted on a detecting beat.

7. A. feeler motion for looms, comprising, in combination, a feeler member movable in a frontward direction by the filling in the shuttle on a detecting beat and movement lon 'tudinall of the shuttle by engagement with thefillmg until substantial exhaustion thereof, means for moving the feeler member longitudinally of the shuttle a lateraliy" feeler 'e'x about a center intermediate the ends of the 120 feeler member when the filling is substantially exhausted, a laterally movable slide through which the feeler extends, a train of mechanism for controlling the loom o eration, and connections and said train of mechanism.

8. A feeler motion for looms, comprising, in combination, a feelerstand, a feeler memher, a spring normally acting to hold the feeler member in rearward position to en- 180 replenishing loom, the com-;

stantially exheld from 116 between the sli e 126 frontwardly, means for moving gage the filling on at detecting beat and yielding to permit the feeler member to move the feeler member longitudinally of the shuttle and prevented from effecting such movement on a detecing beat by engagement-of'the feeler 7 member with the filling until substantial exhaustion thereof, a laterally movable slide mounted on the rear portion of the feeler stand and through which the feeler extends, an actuator, and connections between the slide and actuator. I

9. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feelen stand or so port, a feeder member loosely sustained at ts front portion for both lengthwise and sidewise movement, as ring normally acting to hold th feeler mom or in its rear position, means for moving the feeler member sidewise and prevented from efl'ecting such sidewise movement by engagement of the feeler membar with the filling until substantial exhaustion thereof, a slide mounted on the feeler stand or so port and through which the feeler exten s and means for initiating replenishment of filling when the feeler is moved-sidewise by its operating means.

10. A feeler motion for looms comprising a feeler stand orsup ort provided with a hearing at the front tliereof, a feeler member havmg its front portion loosely sustained m said bearing to permit both lengthwise and sidewise movement of the feeler member, means for supporting the rear portion of the feeler mem er andconfining it to sidewise and longitudinal movement independent of the front bearing, means for givmg 'sidewise movement to the feeler memher and prevented from effecting such movement by engagement of the feeler member with the filling untilsubstantial exhaustion thereof, and means 0 erative upon sidewise movement of the fee er member for initiating replenishment of filling.

11. A feeler motion for looms, comprising, in combination, a feeler stand havin a rent bearing portion and a rear lateral guideway; a feeler member guided for lateral movement in said guideway and extending into the front bearing ortion of the feeler stand, means oonnecte to the guideway to prevent other than lon 'tudinai and sidewise movements of the fee or member, a spring normally tending to hold the feeler- .feeler passing through said bearin the feeler member laterally and prevented from eifecting such movement by engagement of the feeler member with the filling on a detecting beat until substantial exhaustion of filling, and means operative upon sidewise movement of the feeler member in said lateral guideway for effecting replenishment of filling.

12. In a feeler motion, the combination of a feeler stand having a front bearing portion and a rear laterally movable slide, a feel'er passing through the front bearing and rear slide, a train of mechanism to change the operation of the loom, a rod connecting said mechanism and rear slide, and means for moving the feeler and slide laterally when the filling is exhausted on a detecting beat.

13. In a feeler motion, the combination of a feeler stand having a front bearing portion and a rear laterally movable slide, a feeler passing through the front bearing and rear slide, means on the feeler stand for guiding the slide, a. train, of mechanism to change the operation of the loom, a rod connecting said'mechanism and rear slide, and means for moving the feeler and slide laterally when the filling is exhausted on a detectin beat.

14. n a feeler motion, the combination of a feeler stand having a front bearing portion and a rear laterally movable slide, 3.

an slide, a bridge connected to the fee er between the bearing and slide, means normally tending to hold the feeler in rear position, and means for moving the feeler and slide laterally when the filling is exhausted on a detecting beat.

15. In a feeler motion for looms, the combination of a feeler mounted for reciprocating and swinging movements, a laterally movable slide through which the feeler e'xtends, an actuator, a lever for moving the actuator to operative position, connections between th lever and the laterally movable slide and means for movin the slide and feel'er laterally when filling 18 substantially exhausted on a detectin beat,

name to this specification.

EDWARD S. STIMPSON. 

